Mistrial declared in Brunswick rape case

Friday

A Brunswick County jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision in the case of a West Virginia teen accused of raping a 12-year-old girl while on vacation near Holden Beach last summer.

A Brunswick County rape trial ended Friday without a verdict. The jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision in the case of a West Virginia teen accused of raping a 12-year-old girl while on a family vacation near Holden Beach last summer.Adam Wesley Hudson, 19, of Belle, W.Va., is charged with first-degree rape of a child and first-degree sexual offense against a child. Because of their ages, even consensual sex would be rape under North Carolina law. But Hudson denied any inappropriate contact with the girl, who is a relative.The jury was deadlocked during the entire deliberation, with 10 of the 12 jurors favoring a not-guilty verdict. One juror, who declined to be named, said afterward she didn’t think there was enough evidence to convict Hudson.She believed something might have happened between the two, she said. “But we had to have proof and facts and evidence.”The juror said she believed the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office investigation was incomplete, and detectives should have tested for Hudson’s DNA on feminine hygiene products the girl said she used after the alleged rape.She also mentioned the fact that Detective Sgt. Laurie Smith, despite several attempts at contact, did not interview Hudson’s grandmother or a family friend who were both in the mobile home when the incident allegedly occurred.During seven days of testimony, jurors heard the girl’s father say he didn’t know who to believe. They heard about a blatant confession Hudson made, then his statements about how it was coerced.They heard from one side that a registered nurse found no evidence of physical trauma, then heard from the other that one wouldn’t expect to find such evidence because the allegations emerged about 10 days after it supposedly occurred.They heard Hudson’s grandmother, Phyllis Moore, growl on the witness stand, drawing chuckles as she described the fighting cats and dogs in the home that she believed would have started yapping if they heard the incident the young girl described.They also witnessed, but were not instructed to consider, the intangible aspects of the case: tears from both the accused and his accuser, his family’s prayers outside the courtroom, the frequent mention of her young age and his imposing 225-pound stature.They observed the girl and Hudson place hands on a Bible and swear to tell the truth. But their accounts were contradictions, and in the end, the jurors could not come to a conclusion.When it became clear that the jury was not making progress after close to seven hours, Assistant District Attorney Meredith Everhart and Hudson’s attorney, Bill Peregoy, tried to negotiate a plea.The prosecution offered Hudson an opportunity to enter a plea to lesser charges that would probably require probation and registration as a sex offender, but no prison time. The plea would essentially allow him to take the penalties while maintaining his innocence.But Hudson, despite the possibility of another trial and potential decades in prison, said no.“I will not go to jail for something I did not do, and I would not register as a sex offender for something I did not do,” Hudson said after the trial.With the charges still hanging over his head, Hudson said he will head to college this fall in West Virginia and hopes to play football there as he did in high school.The girl’s family did not speak to reporters after the trial. Everhart said she and Peregoy will continue to seek a middle ground or retry the case if one is not reached.“We’re obviously disappointed that the jury was not able to reach a verdict, but we’re confident that the next jury will,” Everhart said, estimating that the case would not be heard again for 10 to 12 months.“Another 12 people seeing the exact same evidence could come out a completely different way.”

Kellen Moore: 343-2061On Twitter.com: @mkellen

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